


Tigers and Bears

by BicthLasagna



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alcohol, Developing Friendships, Drinking to Cope, Everyone Is Gay, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Family Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Modern Era, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23518054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BicthLasagna/pseuds/BicthLasagna
Summary: When Ellie moves uptown to a new location called Sanctuary III to be near her mom, Moze is left with the shop. One lone mechanic swimming in an overbearing workload, but with luck, a close friend will help her open up to the idea of taking in some new deck hands.But after her experience in the wars, could she really learn how to let people help her?After all this time, could she let people in again?---Simi-modern AU, just enough to be more relatable. Eventual Moze and Amara fluf and a whole lotta found family shenanigans
Relationships: Amara/Moze (Borderlands)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Tigers and Bears

**Author's Note:**

> Okay first of all, a quick warning!  
> Moze does lean on alcohol a bit to deal with her problems, and slight hints of PTSD.  
> Also, Moze has quite the vocabulary at times.
> 
> This chapter is just a short flavorful taste of what is to come, an introduction to the characters and a slight view of the world around them.  
> No fluff just yet, but friends are the most lovable bullies a person can have.
> 
> Please enjoy!

The quarter jammed itself in the machine, once again. For the sixth time tonight.

An agitated sigh broke the quiet drone of the overhead lights within the landromatt. The white noise that was predominantly occupied by occasional shifts or footfalls of thick boots on the polished floors from the one whole occupant awake at this ungodly hour.

"Fucker.." a bang followed shortly after that gumble, "go ahead, eat another one of my quarters, asshole," another firm bang with the butt of a palm in just the right place and the voice was greeted with the compliant gingle of the coin dislodging itself from its compromised position and falling into place in the coin bank. The old rattly machine finally whirred to life, indicator lights flickering as the drum gave a ridged turn-over of a start-up spin. Success. "That's what I thought. Best not argue with me, I won't hesitate to dismantle you, right here, right now."

The woman whom was performing verbal and physical assault on the washing machine opened the swinging circular portal door and proceeded to dump a basket of grimey, crusty, sweat stained clothes and blacked hand rags into the machine. Not bothering to separate colours or delicates, she didn't ever really wear anything outside earthy tones and blacks as is, the only real delicate and adventurous clothes she owned were at home still packed away stuffed into her closet inside their box that she moved into her apartment some seven years ago or so in, and the few white tank tops she had were already falling apart at the seams. 

She wasn't worried about simple articles of clothing, nothing one of those Hanes or Fruit of the Loom shirt packs couldn't cover.

The heavy glass door to the dreary crumbling building swings open just as the first occupant shut the washer and relaxed back on her heels. A gingle of car keys following suit as an indicator as well as the firm click of another, more sophisticated, sort of boot. Not wealthy, but not the typical working class sound of shoe either. Familiar shoes, and that keyring sounded like had to be at least three pounds of metal, she knew these sounds well.

"Hey Moze," those clicks came closer until they were just a few paces away, seeming almost as excited to see the other female here on her typical laundry day. Dropping her own basket of clothing onto the floor and stuffing her keys into the pouch of her crimson red hoodie jacket casually, her bright blue eyes flash with that gentle smile. Both that voice and purposeful stride held a brisk and confident undertone, something like a morning person would have. 

Moze, in retaliation, turned to greet the other with a lopsided smile, flicking her unshowered chestnut brown hair out her face with a slightly abashed wave of a hand. Immediately recognizing this other person as her friend from their weekly gathering for modern refuges, Athena. "You look like shit, bud. What are you doing up this early?"

"Haven't slept yet," the brunettes voice was crackly with underuse and her eyes had a sunken expression to them, she looked tired and a lot less determined than she had felt three hours ago when she decided to commit to an all-nighter being a slave to her work, and religiously leaning on a stiff drink as an emotional crutch because of it, "you just getting out of the house for fun or?"

"Eh, a little, figured I could run an errand and do some laundry, let the wife sleep." Moze nodded at her words, putting in one last coin to her chosen washer to dispense a hefty amount of heavy-duty degreaser detergent into the load before pushing the go button. 

God Moze hated small talk, "hey, is your girl still into the odd and rare scrap business? I could use some parts." As the brunette spoke, Athena was busy separating the load she'd brought in, squatting down to tend to it when a few strands of her dyed deep blue hair fell free to hang in her face, forcing her to push the locks back behind a perfectly tanned ear.

"Kinda, but she's mostly dealing online now, trying to adapt to the growing connection of the internet, ya know?" That was a content shrug before the woman continued with yet another pleased smile, "it's so nice to have her home more now though!"

"Ah, yeah, I bet. How's that home life treating ya?" Moze asks casually, leaning against the machine as it begins the wishy-washy. Athena's expression looks slightly pained for half a second, but the pain folded into a genuine admiration before she turned to glance up at the other.

"We got a puppy."

"Oh no?" She wasn't sure if that was a good thing, but the other woman's wide grin at her indecisive remark answered that for her.

"He's a handful, now we have so much more to wash, and more often too," she replies, holding up a heavy looking blanket with the biggest yellow stain right in the middle of it. Moze was thankful she was standing some feet away or that thing would for sure have the rankest smell, "but he's still learning. Janey is already signing him into classes and stuff, got a strict diet, dude barely even knows his own name or what he's doing, but at least he's cute."

"Kinda like a little kid," there was a fond memory of the local stray dogs back on the streets of their base camps, the guys in her unit were so quick to snatch one up and turn him into the squad mascot. Some flimsy little terror, grey thing with brown spots. They named him Marcus, and he would have done anything for a doughnut. It wasn't meant to be though, they couldn't take the adorable scamp with them overseas for protocol violation reasons, "little kids that never really grow up, eh?"

"Exactly, and the back-talk is going to be next to none, that much I'm excited for," they both collectively laugh at that. Athena begins loading the washer with the sheets and blankets first before moving down the line to stuff clothing into another washer. A smart move, or so Moze thought. Keep big articles together, especially if they are contaminated, where as clothing might not be. Blue eyes were cast up to her friend again, a questioning glance dancing across her features, "so, were you up all night in the shop again?"

"Yep, long nights at work are my favorite," she said half sarcastically, Moze really did enjoy the shop, big old shack of a building stocked to the nines with shelving packed with tools and parts. She had three cars side by side in there today in various states of disarray, she and a small crew were meant to repair them that week. Another five cars parked in the back lot required check-ups and basic tuning. Would have been fantastic work, had she had an actual crew, "lotta business these days, not much free time."

"I keep telling ya, man. Hire on some more deck hands, you don't have to pack your shoulders with that stress." The bluenette shot her friend a concerned look, thick brows drawing together for a moment. Moze simply put her hands up in defence.

She did have a bit of a problem with doing everything herself, working her body into the ground or until her hands were bloody with blisters. She liked the busy work, it was some of the only distractions she had, a means of coping after the war, but it was becoming a nasty force of habit. She needed to learn how to trust people with work again, branch off and have hobbies that didn't involve her devotion to her job. This wasn't the army anymore.

She must have started spacing out as her head started to swim with what sounded like television static, and the distant yet swelling high-pitched ring of tinnitus, Moze became hyper aware of her own breathing and sudden staggering drop in body temperature, forcing herself to swallow the hard lump in her throat and shake her head in an attempt to clear it. Breath in, breath out, "yeah I know.. it's not that simple though." 

Her friend in red had pulled her lips together into a thin hard line at that, detecting the waver in her voice loud and clear as if Moze had spoken at her through a megaphone. The concern from before had evolved into something sympathetic, she could relate to her friends pain. Pushing the two washer doors closed before feeding the appliances coins, she stood back up.

"Listen.." Athena knew from what Moze had shared at their meetings, about her struggle with trusting people, her fear of getting close to others. This soldier was so damn afraid, even today, seven years after she was sent on leave. Athena knew exactly what the woman means when she says 'its not that simple'. After the machines were spinning contently on their own, she came to stand beside her friend, leaning on her gently just so she knew she was here for her, "I know of these kids that need jobs, and they love building things."

"Oh no. No no, I'm not running a daycare." Do NOT give Moze the responsibility of looking after children. Adults were one thing, but children? Those were someone's babies, she couldn't accept this, what if they get hurt? Athena offers a small smile, putting an arm around the other girls shoulders, a playful yet reassuring gesture indicating that Moze couldn't escape from this conversation until Athena had been heard. She was pleased to see the colour had returned to the brunette's face again at least.

"I'm serious, one is a mechanically inclined prodigy and the other is a demolition queen!"

"Great. They'll destroy my shop and reap the health benefits."

"Moze, please," she paused, watching her friend pinch the bridge of her nose in disdain. Presumably regretting comparing kids to dogs earlier. She would rather dogs any day. Athena leans away, delivering a gentle back-rub between the mechanic's shoulder-blades, hoping to ease the tension a bit, "find it in yourself to give them a chance. At least meet them."

"I can only expect the least.. do they have any previous job experiences?" 

"The one, Tina, she worked with Ember for a few years, the pyro technician, you know her right?" A nod from the overworked woman. "And the other, Gauge, was top of her class before she dropped out of school, so no work history on that one, yet," another pause as she thought about it, "pretty sure she was a lead designer behind some security drones though, but that's also a rumor, she'll tell you otherwise though."

"Great.." they did sound if only a little promising, but children were still children. She groaned, weighing her options for a long moment before replying, "Fine.. send them in tomorrow."

"You mean today?" Athena tried not to sound too excited. Granted she did have to gently bully the woman into considering. Baby steps were baby steps!

"Noon-an-a-half works." Today? Tomorrow? Who knows, it's three am and Moze was really feeling it now, the overworked exhaustion from earlier was developing a new strand of social exhaustion and the headache growing between her eyes was starting to sound like her best friends ever so slowly growing victory grin.

"Like.." Athena blinks in mild confusion over the term, noon-an-a-half, before squinting her eyes and tilting her head coyly, "twelve-thirty then?"

"No sooner, no later. I'll interview them. I'll see if they make the cut."

And with that, the ex-militant spent the remainder of her morning avoiding people as much as humanly possible, mildly socializing with the drive through employee at the cheapest fast-food place in town, but only in order to receive a chicken sandwich and a dark soda. The bare minimum was what she had to offer in hospitality, along with her payment.

Moze had a lot to mentally reflect on, she didn't have many friends in town and wasn't really willing to post hiring listings anywhere for just any and every Tom with his minimal knowledge of what side of the car gas goes in on, so really these kids were a pretty good bet, especially if her long-term friend herself thought they would be a good match. She'll treat them like adults regardless, she decided as she proceeded to ingest a good sized mouthful of her mediocre tasting burger in one bite as her mind continues to wander. Getting lost in the low rhythm of garbled music that gently crackled through her car speakers.

She didn't have a worry in her existing moment, she was safely tucked away in her car outside of her shop, simply enjoying the sunrise and meal before her. Not a worry for now, but all kinds of worry for later this evening. Man, two whole children.

Probably could organize the building a bit, make it easier on the new recruits. At least compile all of the blueprints so they were easily accessible. Should she record some audio rambles about general vehicle maintenance? Like explaining how to change a tire or a spark plug? Maybe, but that could be better learned in person and hands on.

Wait..

Did these kids know anything at all about cars? Moze groaned at the thought, she would have to get some rest soon if she wanted to even think about teaching children how to use a socket-wrench. She chased another bite with a swig of her fizzy beverage, casting her dark eyes to the cup before putting it back in the holder, raising an eyebrow at it questioningly.

When did it get about half full? In fact, her chicken burger was already mostly devoured now too, must be hungrier than she thought, spacing out and stress eating. Should have ordered something a little more.. more.

Popping the lid off the plastic cup with one hand to gander at its ice to fluid ratio, she observes. Yep, mostly ice. Fantastic. She sets the lid and straw aside, leaning forward and giving herself an arduous kink in her neck to compensate for the steering wheel poised perfectly in the way, all in favor of reaching under her seat. Feeling around for a familiar metallic ridge of a cap on her fingertips.

"Come on, you bastard.. come to mama!" Try here or maybe there, fishing a little deeper, ah yes, there it is! Moze chuckles lowly to herself, immediately pleased knowing the crick in her neck had some form of payoff. Sitting back fully once more, she retrieved a rather large bottle of off-brand vodka. Her smirking remained devious as she trapped it between her thighs to unscrew the cap. The off-hand still occupied with food she was so unwilling to put down, but proved to herself that she could manage the bottle open even with one hand.

Taking the vessel up in her palm again, she tips it over the opened container of soda and ice, the tell-tale glug following suit, "two shots," alas, it was clearly more than two shots and she very well knew it. Moze filled to the mark once more, the clear poison combined with the dark brown soda slowly and lazily, swirling with a grand potency, "perfect, thank you for your service!" She capped the bottle tightly once more, giving the frosted glass a smooch before tucking it away again for another day. Probably tomorrow. Or tonight.

Taking a big sip of her concoction via straw, her face screws up and a low cough of a growl croaks from the back of her throat, that was a very strong drink. Absolutely stupendous, she'd be asleep in minutes after she finished this.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't get the luxury of enjoying it, as her watch alerted her with a series of beeps and chirps. Catching her off guard, she crammed the last of her sandwich into her mouth to free up her free hand in order to finally, abet sarcastically, turn the obnoxious alarm off, "What? What do require of me, ole wristwatch overlord?" 

5:00. Time to get up and get ready for the meeting.

"Wait, that's today?" It was indeed. Once a week. Every Monday. Time was meaningless and full of deadlines, of course Moze would naturally forget something so subjectively arbitrary as if it wasn't written into every single Monday of her calendar. In red pen ink. Only now, would her neglect of the construct that is time be properly screwing her from behind, and it didn't bring a lick of grease.

She groans and drops her drink back into the cup holder, bringing up both hands to tiredly rub at her eyes, "whelp, good thing you did laundry today then," Moze mumbles something vulgar, glaring at the basket in her back seat through the rear-view-mirror before twisting to reach back to it. 

Might as well make it look like you care about today.

**Author's Note:**

> Told you it was short! This is my most recent work, so naturally it is probably full of mistakes and scrappy structure, but I'm getting my idea out there!!
> 
> Hope it entertained you for a hot minute, more to come! 
> 
> Stay awesome guys, much love and be safe!


End file.
